Namibia PDNA 2009 - GFDRR

Table 92: Estimation 61 on number of people in need of assistance to cover food needs
Province
Average agriculture
production ‘000
tonnes
Number
of food
insecure
people
Total
population
% food insecure people /
total population
Caprivi 9,446 25,952 79,852 32.50
Kavango 7,460 13,071 201,093 6.50
Ohangwena 19,808 36,436 227,728 16.00
Omusati 19,470 36,615 228,842 16.00
Oshana 8,442 25,907 161,916 16.00
Oshikoto 16,455 25,726 160,788 16.00
Total 163,707 1,060,219 15.44
Source: World Food Programme
Reduced household food availability
The floods have washed away the stocks of sorghum and
mahangu stored from previous and the 2009 harvests. The
remaining stocks at the household level are not expected to
last beyond September.
Losses of mahangu stocks have reduced food availability and
have affected both urban and rural vulnerable households. The
rural households are forced to purchase their staple cereal,
shifting to consume maize meal as mahangu is less available in
the markets of the flood affected areas.
While maize meal is a commodity available in all areas,
mahangu is only available in markets in the main urban centres.
Vulnerable households in urban areas that traditionally relied
on the mahangu transfers from relatives in rural areas will
have to increase their expenses for purchasing basic food
commodities.
The main harvest next year might also be affected due to
the reduction in seeds, as it is likely that the most vulnerable
households might consume the part of the production for
seeds, and at the same time, the household annual budget to
purchase seeds might be used to obtain food commodities.
Without external assistance, long-term reduction in household
food availability is forecasted in the area.
Fishing had increased in the area due to the flooding with
more fish available in the oshanas, becoming an alternative
livelihood for some affected people and increasing the protein
availability. The fish is dried and sold in the local markets. After
the flooding period, with the recession in the water levels, the
fish availability has returned to pre-floods levels.
Reduced Food access
Damage in the open market infrastructure and roads occurred
in some flooded areas limiting temporarily physical access
to food purchases. While the market infrastructure was not
severely affected, the functioning of the markets was temporarily
interrupted, impacting the local economies. During the time of
the assessment, the recession of waters had already allowed
the normal access to markets.
The general increase of food and fuel prices at national level
had also added pressure on the most vulnerable segments of
the population in the flooded areas. In order to mitigate the
effect of the price increases, a task force under the Office of the
Prime Minister was created in 2008,lifted15 VAT ofsome basic
food commodities, namely beans, bread, cake flour, cooking oil
and fat, and more recently also for milk and sugar.
The rapid increase of food prices during 2008 experienced
a recession in 2009, which can be attributed to a reduction
on the global DDRMand on basic food commodities and the
Government measures.
As a direct consequence of the floods, there was a seasonal
increase of food prices by 37 percent due to higher
transportation costs, which were reported to increase by 75
percent in the flooded areas due to the damage on roads and
bridges and the increased cost of fuel.
At the time of the assessment, the prices of basic food
commodities, vegetable oil, pulses and maize meal were stable
at the pre – flood levels. While further fluctuation on the prices
can be expected as a consequence of the low harvest and
high DDRM, Government actions related to tax control and
support of the local maize production can play an important
role in maintaining low prices.
61 The estimation is done with the data compiled during the field work and the data available in the assessment: Directorate of Disaster Risk
Management - Emergency Food Security Assessment Directorate of Disaster Risk Management (May-June 2008). An assessment of the
impact of the flood and other natural disasters on food security of rural households in areas of Northern Namibia May-June 2008.
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